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| Europe |
| Arabs recruited from Norway to fight in Iraq |
| 2003-12-18 |
| Italian police suspect that Norway is being used as a recruiting ground for terrorists and insurgents seeking Arab fighters against the USA in Iraq. They believe that al-Qaida and mullah Krekar's group Ansar al-Islam are behind the activities. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Italian investigators link al-Qaida and Ansar al-Islam to a network of recruits to Iraq to fight the USA. Besides Norway, Germany and Spain were listed as countries where these groups were active. Mullah Krekar was interviewed by Italian investigators in Norway on Monday in Oslo courthouse. "The interrogation lasted all day and mullah Krekar answered questions from the Italians," said district attorney Erling Grimstad, who was present for Oekokrim, Norway's Economic Crime Unit. Grimstad said that Oekokrim was aware of the suspicion that Ansar al-Islam recruited in Europe but had not heard that Norway was one of the countries used. Mullah Krekar told Aftenposten that he was shown about 75 photographs and was only able to identify three of the people depicted, two Kurds and an Arab living in Italy. Mullah Krekar was leader of Ansar al-Islam from its origin in December 2001 until his arrest in September 2002, when he dropped out of the group. American authorities do not believe Krekar's story, and Aftenposten's US sources "have reason to believe" that Krekar is still a central figure in what is left of Ansar al-Islam in post-war Iraq. Despite lingering international suspicions, three Norwegian courts, including the Supreme Court, have ruled that there are no demonstrable grounds for suspecting Krekar of terrorism and this exempts him from detailed surveillance, though authorities can still follow his movements. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Actually, maybe we can stage a fake war somewhere believable against an Islamic "enemy" that is in cahoots with us. Get a local Iman to issue some fatawa's against us calling for all jihadi's to fly to maybe Dijbouti to free it from the crusaders. It would be different than Iraq because the insurgent groups would just be CIA shells. We'd bus all the clowns into some "training" camps. Then surprise! It's orange jump suits, handcuffs and shackles for all my friends. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-12-18 9:00:56 PM |